No Easy Game: An Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program’s First Five Years

Episode Description: In this episode, we talk about aphasia, the Spaulding-MGH Institute of Health Professions ICAP program, and the story of program participant Dana Lanzillo and his wife Jane. Stories are based on the article Outcomes of an interprofessional intensive comprehensive aphasia program’s first five years.

Episode Guests:

Esther Ayuk, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIS is an Instructor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Coordinator and Clinical Supervisor of the Aphasia Center at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. She is a certified brain injury specialist and has worked as a speech-language pathologist at Spaulding Rehabilitation since 2017. Her clinical research is focused on the standardized assessment of language and cognition across the continuum of care and the role of this information in predicting patient outcomes and influencing health-related quality of life.

Randie Black Schaffer, MD, MA is a physiatrist specializing in Stroke Rehabilitation. She founded the first Young Adult Stroke Rehabilitation Program in the country, which has been widely copied regionally and nationally. At Spaulding she started the Young Adult Stroke Service, she directs the SRH Inpatient Stroke Program and serves as Chief of the Division of Stroke and Neurology of the Dept. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of Harvard Medical School.

Lynne Brady Wagner, MA, CCC-SLP, MRMC, HEC-C serves as the Chief Learning and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, Chair of the Ethics Advisory Committee and Associate Director of the Spaulding Stroke Wellness Institute at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network. In her 25 years at SRN, she has fulfilled many roles including speech-language pathologist, Director of the Stroke Rehabilitation Program, and Director of the Clinical Scholars Program.

Mary Hildebrand , OTD, OTR/L is an associate professor and Director of the Tabor-Connor Family Occupational Therapy Center for Learning, Participation, and Rehabilitation (OT CLiPR) at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.

Dana Lanzillo and his wife Jane were participants in the the S-IHP’s CAP program (twice!)

Marjorie Nicholas, PhD, CCC-SLP, FASHA is Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the MGH Institute of Health Professions and is a professor specializing in adult neurogenic communication disorders. She founded the MGH Institute's onsite Aphasia Center, which provides diagnostic and treatment services to adults with aphasia and related communication impairments. The Aphasia Center operates on the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA) model. Prior to joining the MGH Institute, she was a speech-language pathologist for over 15 years at the VA Boston Healthcare System. Dr. Nicholas became a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (FASHA) in 2017.

Episode Resources:

Episode Articles & Related Research

Outcomes of an interprofessional intensive comprehensive aphasia program’s first five years | Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation

Advocacy, Education, & Community Organizations

S-IHP's CAP Intensive Aphasia Program | MGH IHP